


Tumblr Shots

by wastefulreverie



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Angst, Blood Blossoms, Christmas, Comedy, Funny, Gen, Humor, Identity Reveal, Social Media, ghost king, post-reveal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2020-09-26 19:29:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 9,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20394958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wastefulreverie/pseuds/wastefulreverie
Summary: Oneshot collection of prompt responses on Tumblr. Some are more serious than others.





	1. Blood Blossom Soup

It’d just been a typical ghost fight. Danny’s ghost sense had gone off in the middle of Chemistry, he’d bolted for the door, and casually phased his arm through his locker to grab the Fenton Thermos before he bolted. With the Thermos in hand, Danny ducked into a janitor’s closet and flew out of the building.

As he said, it was typical一routine.

The fight didn’t last long. Today it was Ember’s ‘next-next biggest debut’ for her new album destined to top the charts. It was called 'Something-Something-Death-Love-Something-Fire’. Admittedly. Danny hadn’t been paying much attention.

After about a fifteen minute battle (that was mainly just mundane exchanges of puns), Danny got the upper-hand. With a trained precision, he furrowed through his belt and detached the Fenton Thermos. He pointed the device at the incapacitated rocker and it pulled her into its light. However, as Ember was being pulled into the thermos Danny realized that there had been an odd sloshing sound. He hadn’t noticed before, but it was also heavier than usual.

Strange.

But, it was probably nothing. After all, it was just a typical fight, right?

Back in school, Danny didn’t have enough time to phase the thermos back into his locker. Instead, he obscured it in his jacket and returned back to class as fast as possible. Mr. Falluca was probably already getting suspicious.

“Welcome back to the wonderful world of polar molecules, Mr. Fenton. Please pick up a worksheet and retake your seat,” Mr. Falluca chastised.

Danny groaned, grabbing a paper, and trudging back towards his desk. He slumped between Sam and Tucker, who gave him sympathetic looks. Thankfully, they were able to give him pointers with the worksheet, helping him with what he had missed in his absence.

Right when Danny was about to attempt the last question, the thermos (which was still crammed between his ribs and his jacket) began to vibrate. What the hell… Ember should not be able to escape! She was much too weakened when he captured her to put up much of a fight inside the thermos.

Following the tremors, there was a sharp crescendo of high-pitched whining and what sounded like… bubbling? The noise quickly became loud enough for the rest of the class to hear and drowned out any nearby conversations. Danny was panicking. This wasn’t _ good _一this wasn’t supposed to be happening-

“What’s that sound?” Paulina wondered. She was sitting by the door, halfway across the room from him._ Seriously this was bad一! _

“That sounds like it’s coming from you, Mr. Fenton,” Mr. Falluca assessed. He narrowed his eyes. “What do you have?”

Danny tried shoving the thermos deeper into his jacket, but Mr. Falluca noticed the motion. _ Shit _ , he was caught. _ Not good not good not- _

The vibrating suddenly ceased. The thermos became still and the sound deepened into a measly groan. The pressure inside the device gave one last tremor, and then even the groaning stopped too. Whatever Ember had been doing, she had given up.

But that still left the trouble that Mr. Falluca was approaching him now. The short man callously regarded Danny’s attempt at hiding the thermos and placed his hand on Danny’s desk. “Take it out.”

Danny couldn’t refuse. He glanced nervously at Tucker and pulled out the thermos, standing it on his desk. Somewhere behind him, Dash snorted.

“I know that a thermos wasn’t making that noise, Mr. Fenton,” Mr. Falluca deadpanned.

“It一it was,” Danny laughed awkwardly. He looked around the room, brainstorming an excuse. Then, one hit him. “It’s one of my Dad’s failed inventions! It’s a thermos that warms food with an internal microwave! I guess I must’ve bumped the microwave button! Th一that’s it!”

“Uh huh,” Mr. Falluca wasn’t convinced. “Then you wouldn’t mind me examining it, would you?” He moved to unscrew the lid, but Danny reacted first.

“No!” he protested. “Y一you can’t open it! Microwave technology is really, really dangerous! You一"

Mr. Falluca ignored him and popped the lid off. A foul red mist wafted in his face, making him crinkle his nose. “Ugh, that’s sour.” He glanced into the confines of the thermos, a chunky, red substance sloshing around. “What kind of soup is this?”

Danny’s heartbeat (as slow as it was) stopped. “What?” Where was一where the _ fuck _ was Ember? What did Mr. Falluca mean by _ soup一 _?

And then it hit him like a freight train. That morning, before he had crashed flown through the front door, his Mom had told him that she’d made him some homemade herbal soup. What she hadn’t mentioned were the blood blossoms.

Danny watched in horror as red plumes continued to rise from the thermos, churning with the nasty smell of death.


	2. Hair Die

**Instagram** ** _  
_ ** ****

**August 8th, 2019**

**Photo:** Phantom hanging out with a group of goths at the local goth bookstore, the Skurk and Lurk. Phantom has his arm around a black-haired girl with a purple, spider backpack. The other goths in the picture are a blue-haired girl with knee-high converse, a dark-skinned boy with a gaudy nose ring and a Hawthorne Heights t-shirt, and a yellow-and-red-haired boy with dark eyeliner. The photo gave the impression that it was a candid moment, that it was captured without acknowledging the people in the photo.

**cosmiccurls73:** sorry guys phantoms gone goff, hes ours now haters xD

_58 Likes — 10 Comments_ **   
**

**kingofcasper: **pffft who knew Phantom was such a fucking edge lord

**brazydudee: **He’s sure got it for that hot goth chick ;)

**oraclejessica: **I bet he shops at hot topic. Weeeeb.

**kwanwantsfood:** OMG HE’S A GHOST OF COURSE HE’S GOTH

**x_elisahaynes_x: **You don’t understand how MUCH I want Phantom to go full emo lmfao. Like hmmm fucking strap on those combat boots baby we’re going to sPeNcEr’s uWu

> **Replies: **
> 
> **blueexorsist: **What if… he dyed his hair black ahhahhhaha
> 
> **starthecheer: **I think you mean DIES his hair black
> 
> **mynameiscecil: **AHHHH BSET ADDITION EVER
> 
> **paulinams: **lol I’m screenshotting this for my phantom account this is fucking gold lmao
> 
> **cosmiccurls73: **cool with me @paulinams

* * *

Paulina’s Phantom Twitter was popular. Amity Park users regarded it as the best compilation of Phantom photos ー somehow Paulina managed to find pictures that no one else could find. Although, not all her followers were from Amity Park. Others found it funny, a gag-account with a wacky cosplayer and a local fanbase.

Paulina screenshotted the Instagram photo and comments and uploaded them both. It amassed attention fairly fast. Faster than some of her other posts, incidentally. _ Success _.

* * *

**Twitter**

**August 11th, 2019**

**Photos: **Phantom at the Skulk and Lurk. A screenshot of Instagram comments.

> **Pauli Phantom: **lol he should DIE his hair

_447 Likes — 122 Retweets_ **   
**

* * *

The post eventually went viral. Star’s “die” pun was cleverly crafted and well placed ーeven users who didn’t understand that Phantom was actually a _ ghost _enjoyed the meme. 

* * *

**August 18th, 2019**

_8308 Likes — 1305 Retweets — 171 Replies_ **   
**

**Photos: ** A picture of Phantom hovering above Amity Park, with an ectoplasm charged around his fist. He’s smiling, eyebrows drawn together and laughing at a corny (it _ had _ to be corny) joke he’s made. This picture is beside an edited version where Phantom’s hair is Photoshopped black.

> **Aryana L:** I took the liberty of editing of what Phantom would look like with black hair! He’s actually really cute <3~!!

> **Pauli Phantom:** @spaceguydanny what the FUCk is THIS

* * *

Danny didn’t use Twitter often. It was usually pushed to the back of his social media folder and all he really used it for was for finding better memes than Tucker. He knew something was wrong when he had over twenty Twitter notifications. Sure, it may just be Tucker spamming him but… he just had a _ gut _feeling.

He had seven mentions and eighteen private messages. His parents hadn’t got a Twitter, had they? Now _ that _ would be scary. His stomach twisted and he clicked on one of the mentions.

It was a picture of Phantom at the Skulk and Lurk with a screenshot. That’d been a fun night ー Sam convinced him to impress the goths with his _ ghostliness _ and he’d actually gotten along with some of them. Tucker made fun of him for it, but he didn’t care. The memory was nice… but he still didn’t know why he’d been mentioned. He scrolled down and there was… his breath hitched in his throat. _ Not good, this is _ really _ bad. _ Someone had edited a picture of his hair and made it _ black _ . Phantom’s hair. _ was black _.

SHIT.

Paulina had mentioned him: _ “@spaceguydanny what the FUCk is THIS” _ … It wasn’t difficult to put together; with Phantom’s hair edited, he was the spitting image of Danny Fenton. After Paulina had mentioned him, a few other people had joined in asking him what the _ fuck _ was up with that picture.

And Danny didn’t have an explanation. He was down to his knees in shit ー he’d been caught. This wouldn’t stay on Twitter for long, soon enough it would spread to the news. And after that… it’d be over for real. Everyone ー _ his parents _ ー would know!

He had to come up with a solution, had to get out of Amity Park. Should he fess up to his parents before they found out, or should he just… leave without saying anything. _ Disappear_.

Was there a way to fix this? Could he do anything? This was a draw of bad luck and ー and-everything-was-happening-far-too-fast-for-him-to-_ process _ー

Danny stared down at his phone. Paulina’s accusation stared at him, taunting him. It’d feel wrong if he didn’t do _ anything _to dismiss her claim, even if it was futile. He wasn’t thinking straight anyway….

* * *

**Twitter**

**August 18th, 2019**

**Pauli Phantom:** @spaceguydanny what the FUCk is THIS

> **DaMMy Fenton: **wow that’s a weird coincidence haha

> **Techno Tuck:** wow Danny why didn’t you tell me you looked like Phantom一I thought you were my friend :(

> **Pauli Phantom:** ngl this is the shadiest thing I’ve seen on this app and I follow dash’s weight lifting account

> **DaMMy Fenton: **shady as in the SHADE in my hair lol

> **DaMMy Fenton:** wait

> **Goth Flower:** anndd this is why you suck at secret identities Danny


	3. Know Your Enemy

For a moment or two, Danny just gaped at her. Sure, he  _ had  _ invited to meet him in the park so they could attend the Truce party together. But for her to actually show up? She surpassed all of his expectations then and there.

“So are we doing this thing or not?” she shoved her fists in her pale green hoodie irritably. “Or are you going to stand一float一there like you’re trying to catch flies?”

“I uh,” that kind of response is something he expected to hear as Fenton, not Phantom. Her cordial attitude was a little unnerving, although he was the one who had reached out to make amends. 

( _ Had he even really believed that she would do this, did he have so little hope in her? _ )

“Yeah, yeah this is good.”

“Alright, so can you like open up portals or something? ‘Cause I don’t know how we’re getting to this place.”

“Huh?” he asked. That had come completely out of left field. “Oh, no, I can’t do that. We’re going through the Fenton Portal.”

She paused and looked at him quizzically, “But that’s in the Fentons’  _ house _ .”

“Well, yeah. I’m a ghost, I sneak in there all the time, so it’s totally safe.”

“I’m not worried about 'safety’,” she finger-quoted. “Isn’t that like一invading their privacy?”

Well, not to him since it  _ was _ his own house. “It would be if we lingered around. We’re just phasing straight to the lab, so it’s fine.”

That seemed to make her even more apprehensive, “Whoa whoa  _ whoa _ . Hold up,” she emphatically put her hands on her hips. “Phasing? You’re not using  _ your _ powers on  _ me _ . Sure, I decided to accept your little invitation, but uh…  _ God, I knew this was a bad idea _ ,” she muttered.

He thought she had already realized that they were going in the Ghost Zone with ghosts. Did ghost powers really freak her out that much? Her own suit was practically powered by ghost energy. After all, it’s not like it was dangerous or anything for humans since he used intangibility with Sam and Tucker all the time. Of course… she didn’t know that. He was still just an enemy to her, an enemy she had decided to give a second chance and he was already blowing it!

Danny decided to take a different approach, “Look, you don’t have your suit with you, right?”

She stiffened, “Is that a threat, ghost boy?”

He groaned, “Does everything have to be a threat to you?”

“Well, considering you have a history of destroying一"

“Okay, okay, I get it. Suit or not?”

Valerie sighed, “Not.”

“Then I’m going to have to use my powers to fly you through the Ghost Zone anyway. Phasing shouldn’t be that bad. Just think of it as going around material objects, like taking a detour. Besides,” he added, “I phase bystanders out of the way of rubble all the time, and they’re never hurt by it.”

He could see that her logic broke through to her. She still held her facade of anger, but he knew that she had been convinced.

Keeping her arms securely in her hoodie she scowled, “That’s completely underrating it, but fine. We’ll phase into their house, good old breaking and entering to go to a stupid party with a bunch of supposedly peaceful ghosts.”

“Summed it up perfectly.” He held out a gloved hand. “Shall we?”

“I still hate you, don’t forget that. I’m only doing this because it’s Christmas and you  _ begged  _ for a second chance.”

And she took his hand.

* * *

The party was wilder than anything Valerie could have contrived. She expected to feel on edge the entire, targeted, singled out, in danger. After all, she was human and ghosts didn’t like humans. Therefore her entire presence was offensive, right?

Turns out, the ghosts literally didn’t give two shits about her being human.

After they arrived, Ember flew up to her and Phantom. The rocker ghost glanced between them, scrutinizing them.

_ This is it,  _ Valerie thought,  _ a fight. I knew it. He lead me straight into a lion’s den, defenseless and now they’re going to try and kill me because I’m alive. Deep, deep breathes and- _

“Yooo, Phantom,” Ember threw an arm around Phantom’s shoulder. Valerie realized she had never seen her rival that annoyed. “I thought you liked the goth girl? Are you playing two girls at once? If'ya’re I’m gonna have to  _ fight  _ you because cheating is shit一 _ ty _ ,” she slurred.

“Trust me Ember,” Phantom grabbed the rockstar’s arm and maneuvered it off of his shoulder. “Val is just a friend. Well, enemy. We’re more platonic than you and Skulker these days.”

“Ouch!” she held her hands to her chest in false pain, “Rub it in more, will ya? That  _ just  _ happened.” Like flipping a switch, she resumed her normal attitude. “But I’m glad you’re not a cheater Babypop. You wholesome son of a bitch!”

And then, Ember flew away. No hostility, no questioning the human at the party, nothing remotely bad. Valerie was floored.

“Sorry about that,” Phantom turned to her. “She gets like that when she’s drunk.”

“Drunk?” Valerie questioned. “Ghosts can drink?”

“Yeah, but not alcohol,” Phantom nodded. He pointed to a large bowl of churning green goop. “Ectohol. Nasty stuff. Tried it once, and once was too much for me. Probably because it’s not meant for half-gh一I mean for underage ghosts.”

Valerie raised a brow. What was that slip-up he’d almost made? Ember was clearly  _ very  _ underage too, but she was drinking it. Before she could call him out on it, another ghost flew up to them.

“Hey Box Ghost,” Phantom greeted.

“Hello, Phantom! Hello, Huntress!” The Box Ghost loudly announced. 

Valerie gaped. How had he known who she was without her suit?

“How’d you一"

The Box Ghost cut her off by conjuring a decorative box from thin air. “A Christmas present,” he declared. “For you, Phantom. Beewaarre!” he handed the gift to Phantom who accepted it graciously.

Phantom laughed, “Don’t worry, I will, Boxy.”

The Box Ghost flew away before Valerie could reiterate her question. So she turned to Phantom instead.

“How did he know who I was? You haven’t told all the ghosts, right?”

Phantom shook his head, “Beats me. He’s the Box Ghost, just an enigmatic annoyance. And I wouldn’t do that, that’d just put more of a target on your back. I’d never do that to you.”

“You unmasked me to my Dad, though.”

“Uh…” Phantom deadpanned, “to protect you from stealing something that would  _ kill  _ you.”

As much as she hated to admit it, that was sort of fair.

Most of the ghost she saw there she had never seen before, but she recognized some of them as her foes from Amity Park. Plasmius, AKA Vlad, AKA the ghost that had the audacity of pretending to be alive and manipulating her to his will, was also there. She was relieved that Phantom also seemed keen to avoid him.

She and Phantom spent the next hour or so socializing with ghosts and even dancing (not together, that’s just  _ wrong _ ) to some Ghost Zone music, which was just plain weird. The DJ there was a fairly modern ghost (90s maybe?) but had the guts to try to please all the partygoers by combining elements of music from all time periods. For example, a Bohemian rhapsody bagpipe remix. Valerie told Phantom it was a straight-up insult to Queen and he’d laughed in agreement.

Near the end of the night, she and Phantom ended up watching a bunch of drunks ghosts try to knock a soda bottle off a shelf across the room with their ectoblasts. They were all so wasted that their aim was comical. Thankfully, Phantom ensured that none of the stray blasts hit Valerie.

By the end of it, Plasmius (drunk as a sailor) was the one to knock down the bottle. He flew up and raised his arms, “PACKERS!” he cheered.

She and Phantom groaned. Unfortunately, Valerie had seen his mansion, and she knew the unhealthy extent of his weird Packers obsession. It was just downright cringy.

The other drunk ghosts cheered even though they didn’t know why they were cheering. But then, in his triumph, Vlad accidentally flew up too quickly and banged his devil-horned head against the ceiling. She witnessed his eyes roll to the back of his head, falling unconscious. Out like a light.

His body crumpled to the floor, falling just feet away from Valerie. And then, those same black halos had appeared. The same transformation she had witnessed months ago; Vlad Plasmius morphed into Vlad Masters.

Phantom stiffened beside her, hesitantly meeting her eyes. “ _ Shit, _ ” he uttered.

Meanwhile, the drunk ghosts laughed at Vlad’s action of knocking himself out.

“Look, I know what you just saw,” Phantom started, “but I swear it has an explanation.”

“Vlad Masters is like Danielle and is actually an evil villain,” she said wryly.

“Okay, yeah that’s an explanation,” Phantom whispered, fear etched across his face. “Please don’t tell him you know, he’ll  _ kill _ me if he finds out that I brought you here and found out his secret. Well, kill me again, and then tell you my s一my, uh…”

Valerie snorted, “Chill out, dude. I’ve known for months.”

Valerie hadn’t thought Phantom’s eyes could get any wider, but they did. “… what?”

“It was after that night with Dani. I went back to check on Vlad and saw him change, well, and heard him monologuing to himself.”

Phantom looked like he had been slapped. She had to refrain from laughing. “And you haven’t told anyone yet?”

“Nah, I’m waiting for a good time to strike.”

“Okay… good,” he breathed. “Actually, if you need help with that or anything, hit me up. I always like to kick Vlad’s ass.”

By the end of the night, Phantom flew Valerie back straight to her apartment and wished her a good Christmas. And to her surprise, she wished him the same….

She didn’t know at what point in the night she had started regarding Phantom more casually, but it honestly astounded her how her views had been altered that night.

Would Phantom act the same after this 'truce’ ended? Would she? Would they go back to being enemies, or would they be able to resume the temporary friendship they had established that night?

Valerie mulled over those thoughts and postponed them. It was Christmas, after all. They could wait.


	4. The Practice of Dissuasion

Vlad liked to keep an eye on things. Even though he wasn’t the most proficient internet user, he liked to skim forums on ghosts. He’d been doing it for years, watching out for users who know a little _ too _much to be guessing. He didn’t do it often, because the paranormal side of the Internet was a cesspool of wannabes bitching about communing with the spirits and all that nonsense. But this forum… where could he begin? This new user was clearly in over his head….

> **wwdunkmaster2:**
> 
> So have any of you ever wondered if half ghosts could be a thing? LIke, y’know. If someone like half died and then they become like idk a ghost that can become a normal looking human. Cause uh funny story I saw something REALLY weird last week and I think it may have to do with this… Like there’s this kid in my class who’s like always super late and basically a delinquent and I noticed that he was acting *weird* so I follwed him into an alley and he just. BAM turned into a ghost. You Amity guys know him as Phantom but if you don’t know about Amity youprobably wouldn’t know what I’m talking about. Soooo I stole some ghost equipment from some girl’s backpack (another long story) and it confirmed it一he’s a ghost. But like… I got in his face and felt him breathing and there was a guy that punched him in the lungs the other day so I guess he can breathe which means he’s alive? I’m just so confused. Can someone be alive and dead and half-ghost? HELP
> 
> **anon: **
> 
> Hey yeah what the fuck can you explain more??/? I don’t know what youre trying to say dude
> 
> **anon:**
> 
> Yeah actually what kind of drug r u on? Give me some bro lmfaoo. Pft dead and alive schodingers experiment was just a theory, not rl
> 
> **wwdunkmaster2: **
> 
> Look, I’m not crazy! I actually saw this happen. He like, put his hands up and all Sailor Moon transformed into a fucking ghost. He’s definetly dead. Today I confronted him and he deined it, but he didn’t QUESTION why I was asking. He’s lying and he’s totally a half ghost half human. If anyone wants more info dm me but I’m not gonna come back to this forum if it’s all hate and garbage!

Vlad was vaguely aware of how his mouth felt suddenly dry. This _ child _on the screen… had supposedly seen Daniel transform and was now exposing him on the Internet. If the wrong people saw this post, it could absolutely destroy Daniel, and Vlad couldn’t let that happen. After all, if Daniel ever so recklessly exposed his secret, then that would put Vlad’s own secret at risk.

And Vlad couldn’t afford to let that happen. He was twenty years into this mess, and he wasn’t going to let it end because Daniel had foolishly allowed another boy to spot his transformation in an alley!

So, Vlad decided to take up on wwdunkmaster2’s offer一he was going to direct message the boy for more information. Sure, Vlad had enough influence that he could simply remove the boy’s posts from the forum, but that would do little to quell his interest in Daniel. Instead, Vlad was going to attempt to convince this boy that he was wrong… convince him that Daniel _ wasn’t _ Phantom and that he had just been mistaken.

It would be hard work, to try and psychologically manipulate someone into altering their memories, but it was possible. After all, he’d done it many times before, when he had been as careless as Daniel. But he learned from his mistakes, and hopefully, Daniel would too, given time.

> **plasmiusv: **
> 
> Hello, I read your post about a half-ghost? I’m a little intrigued and would like to know more.
> 
> **wwdunkmaster2: **
> 
> Bro you better not be messing with me, you’re like the seventh person to troll me.

After a brief Google search about what ‘trolling’ was (seriously, how was he supposed to keep up with all this lingo!), Vlad penned his response.

> **plasmiusv: **
> 
> No, no I assure you that I really am interested. In fact, I’m somewhat acquainted with ghosts as a part of my job here in Amity, and I would like to hear about what you saw.
> 
> **wwdunkmaster2:**
> 
> Oh okay, that makes more sense, thanks. Everyone’s attacking me tonight and I just can’t handle hate mail.
> 
> Since you’re from Amity Park, I guess you know the Fentons? I mean, everyone does. Their son, Danny Fenton, is somehow also Danny Phantom. I mean even their names are similar, isn’t that crazy! But like I said on the forum, I followed Danny to an alley and I watched him say some stuff before these halos went around him and then his clothes, hair, and eyes all changed color until he looked like Phantom. 
> 
> I know it sounds wild, but I’ve figured out that he’s half-ghost. I mean, when ghosts possess people they don’t actually change how that person looks, nor what they bleed. We’ve all seen Phantom bleed ectoplasm and thanks to this bully I’ve seen Fenton bleed blood. So that means that the change has to be moleculur. I’m still trying to figure out what half-dead means though.
> 
> sorry, that was a lot of information. If that didn’t make sense I can try to explain more.
> 
> **plasmiusv:**
> 
> No, no that made sense! The thing with their names is very observant, I’d never realized how similar they sounded together.

Actually, Vlad had always thought that Daniel’s chosen alter-ego’s name was a bit too obvious. He suspected that it might cause trouble….

> **plasmiusv:**
> 
> I am a bit puzzled about what half-ghost means though… did you make that assumption just based on his transformation? There are many alternative explanations that could explain the situation. 

Vlad wrote another message to try and confuse the boy, to give him so many options that he loses his sight of what is real and what isn’t. On his first try, wwdunkmaster2 had found the correct needle, so to throw him off the right course, Vlad needed to build a haystack.

> **plasmiusv: **
> 
> Maybe Phantom is a shape shifter? Maybe they really are different people but sometimes Fenton let’s Phantom go to school in his place? Or maybe, Phantom is possessing Fenton but the possession is so strong that it can change his blood. Or maybe Fenton/Phantom is just a human that has some kind of artifact from a ghost that allows him to disguise himself?
> 
> I didn’t intend to poke holes in your theory, I’m just kind of an open-minded person who likes to look at all the different pictures before deciding what’s correct. After all, jumping to conclusions isn’t always the correct answer.
> 
> **wwdunkmaster2: **
> 
> Hmm… you do make some good points. I may look into them. I’ve only been looking at this from one angle, so it’s possible that I’ve been jumping to conclusions. I’ll investigate more and find out which theory is correct! Even though I kinda do have a gut feeling about my own theory….

Vlad hadn’t expected him to be so persistent about investigating. He had intended his words to make the boy reconsider what he had seen, but instead, this kid remained undeterred. 

_ Shit _.

> **wwdunkmaster2:**
> 
> I have a plan to find out more information tomorrow! I’m going to take some DNA samples and see how much ectoplasm is in him. Depending on that, I should be able to tell if he’s overshadowed or not. Or if he’s a full ghost or not if he doesn’t have DNA.

Vlad panicked. DNA samples would be very damning in evidence. He couldn’t let that happen.

> **plasmiusv: **
> 
> Isn’t that sort of invasive though? What if the situation isn’t like you think and then you get in trouble.
> 
> **wwdunkmaster2:**
> 
> nah, trust me, I won’t get in trouble. Fenton knows I’m onto him, he wouldn’t dare tell an adult that I’m investigating him. And if he doesn’t have anything to hide, it doesn’t matter anyway
> 
> **plasmiusv:**
> 
> I’m just telling you, that sounds like a bad idea.
> 
> **wwdunkmaster2: **
> 
> Okay? I’m doing it anyway. You’re the one who messaged me and you cant tell me what’s a good idea and what’s not dude.

wwdunkmaster2 logged off. And moments later, so did Vlad. This wasn’t good, this kid was a lot more determined than he had expected. So, that meant that there was only one logical thing left to do.

He had to talk to Daniel.


	5. The Backpack

Paulina finally did it, after weeks of preparations and planning she obtained everything she had worked for. It was all thanks to Star and Dash’s support. If it hadn’t been for them, she would’ve never gotten what she wanted. And now… it was finally in her hands.

Phantom’s backpack.

When Paulina got grounded, her parents made her walk to school一something she hadn’t done since eighth grade. After all, once Dash got his license in Freshman year they all just carpooled. But thanks to her awfully strict parents, she had to walk for fifteen minutes to Casper High. It was absolutely  _ exhausting _ .

She dreaded her morning walk for the entire two weeks she was grounded, until one day, her brain went on autopilot and she took a wrong turn towards the Nasty Burger instead. And there, she saw him.  _ Su amor _ . Phantom.

He was flying leisurely towards Casper High, looking a little worse for wear and heaving for breath. There was a trickle of blood一ectoplasm一on his cheek and he seemed distracted. Nonetheless his appearance, he was still absolutely charming in a sort of frazzled way. And there Paulina saw it, something she had never noticed before. Phantom was wearing a purple backpack.

And she was curious. She had never seen him with anything besides his thermos. What did he have in that backpack? What belongings did the ghost boy have? She knew instantly that she had to find out.

When she walked to school for the next week, she was delighted to discover that albeit a few deviations, Phantom flew past the same area around the same time every morning. Always with that mysterious backpack. The more times she spotted him, the more her curiosity slipped out of control.

So, even when her parents allowed her to ride to school with her squad, she elected to continue walking in the mornings so she could get her daily glimpses of Phantom. Her crush, her love, her life…. Star and Dash were the only ones who questioned Paulina about it. At first, she refused to tell them about it, because she knew that they would want to see him every morning too. They were as just as obsessed with Phantom as she was. But eventually, she cracked and told them both. And Star and Dash were supportive of her, they decided to help her find out what was in Phantom’s backpack.

They put their plan into motion on a Wednesday morning. Dash and Star stood in an alley around the Nasty Burger, while Paulina hid behind a dumpster. It was rancid and highly unpleasant, but she pushed through her revulsion in order to put this mystery to rest. She had to learn more about Phantom一she had to know more so she could gain his heart.

Star started screaming for help. She had ‘slipped’ on a banana peel and Dash was running around yelling for help. And ever the hero, Phantom appeared to them instantly, ready to help. He tried to reassure Star to stay calm, but she kept sobbing about her supposedly broken ankle. Her cries of pain were so convincing that even Paulina nearly believed Star’s ruse.

Dash suggested that Phantom look for any materials to use as something to bind Star’s ankle. After making Star a thin slab of ice to keep the swelling down, Phantom threw off his backpack and started looking for items to help Star.

This was Paulina’s chance. She slipped out from behind the dumpster and lunged for his backpack. He was distracted with helping Star so he didn’t even notice Paulina’s quick grab and exit. She ran out of the alley and left her friends to deal with the rest. That had been their plan after all.

She ended up ditching her walk to school and hiding out in the Nasty Burger. She noticed some of the morning employees eyeing her suspiciously, but she rolled her eyes at them. It wasn’t the first time she had skipped school, and they knew it too.

She slipped into a booth with the ghost boy’s backpack and glanced around nervously, paranoid that Phantom would fly into the restaurant and demand his bag back. If that were to happen, all their hard work would be useless and Phantom would never trust her again! But this was necessary for learning more about him. Once she captured his affection, he would understand.

She set the enigmatic backpack on top of the table and unzipped it.

The first thing that fell out of his bag was his famous ghost capturing thermos. Surprisingly, it was lighter than she expected. She turned it on its side and examined the buttons embedded in the metal. There was a small light that said that indicated that there were some ghosts stored in the thermos already. Suddenly, it felt like she was holding a bomb. She carefully placed the thermos back on the table, careful to make sure the buttons were facing up.

She reached for the next thing in the bag. It was a world history textbook. Just like the one she had. She didn’t know why Phantom would have a textbook of all things, but maybe since he had died around her age he was trying to continue his education? She never imagined Phantom as someone who would like  _ school  _ of all things, but it was sort of reassuring, that he wanted to learn more about the world, even after death.

She flipped through the textbook and besides a few general notes in the margins there was nothing significant about it. Time for the next thing in the bag-

It was a copy of  _ Of Mice and Men _ . She wasn’t in English this semester, but Star was and she knew that’s what Lancer’s class was currently reading. Huh, so maybe Phantom hung around her school enough to sit in on specific classes too. That would explain why he had the same book that the class was currently reading. He was basically a student that attended school willingly and didn’t get grades.

Is it possible that Phantom’s a…  _ nerd _ ?

_ Pfft, no way, _ Paulina decided.  _ Phantom fights ghosts all day一he’s way too strong and masculine and heroic to be a _ nerd.

Next, she pulled out a blue three-ring binder with about ten papers sticking out of the side, obviously crammed in there hastily. She almost pulled out some of her hair, did Phantom actually do  _ homework  _ too?

She laughed nervously, “What the  _ fuuuck _ ?”

A nearby woman with two preschool-aged children glared at her. Her children ignorantly gobbled their chicken nuggets so Paulina flipped the woman off.

So, she started looking through the papers for any hints. By the third paper Paulina picked up, she was beyond confused. She was looking at some pretty messy geometry homework, beyond chicken scratch, but the name at the top of the worksheet was clearly legible.

And it wasn’t Phantom’s homework. It was Danny fucking Fenton’s. His name was scrawled somewhere on almost all of the papers in the binder. Danny Fenton’s math homework, his Spanish homework, his English homework, and his world history homework.

Now that she thought about it, wasn’t Fendweeb’s backpack also purple?

Oh geez… had she really been obsessed with Danny Fenton’s backpack for like a week straight?

“Ew,” she realized, pushing Fenton’s homework away from her.

None of it made sense though.

Why was Phantom carrying around Danny Fenton’s backpack every day? She had seen him wearing that bag nearly every day for the past week, yet, Danny Fenton still used his backpack for his schoolwork every day. So did Phantom steal Fenton’s backpack every morning to carry his thermos or something and then give it to Danny for the rest of the school day?

What was the point of doing something so redundant?

Even though it didn’t make sense, it was the only thing that  _ could  _ be happening.

Begrudgingly, she looked around for any more hints in Fenton’s backpack, but all she found was his regular school stuff. And some random space stickers. She tried to ignore how downright geeky that was and zipped everything back in his bag. Since she hadn’t found out anything about Phantom other than the fact that he was possibly a kleptomaniac, she might as well return to school.

She found Fenton in their homeroom and threw his backpack at him. Mr. Lancer was in the middle of taking attendance, but with her current disappointment, she didn’t care.

“Phantom’s been stealing your shit,” she told Fendork. He looked up at her with wide eyes, and for a moment he looked like she had slapped him. “I guess you probably knew, though.”

He choked, “W一what?”

“I stole Phantom’s backpack and apparently he’s been stealing your backpack,” she explained. “Since he steals it like every morning I figured you already know. Do you know why he steals it?”

“Ms. Sanchez,” Mr. Lancer interjected, “what in the world are you talking about?”

She rolled her eyes, "I stole Phantom’s backpack to try to learn more about him, but it turns out it was just  _ his _ ,” she pointed to Danny. “So apparently Phantom’s been stealing Fenton’s backpack like every morning.”

“I’m afraid I’m lost,” Mr. Lancer said.

“ _ Me también, _ ” Paulina rolled her eyes.

“What do you mean, 'Phantom’s’ backpack?” Mr. Lancer asked.

“Well I noticed that he flies towards the school every morning over by the Nasty Burger wearing some backpack,” Paulina explained. “And like I’ve said  _ three times _ , I stole it because I wanted to see what he owned. And then it turned out to be Fenton’s backpack. So…  _ Danny _ ,” she drawled, “what do  _ you  _ know about this whole thing?”

“I uh一uh,” he stared at her, doing little to repress his internal panic, “ _ nothing _ ?” he squeaked.

“ _ Bull _ ,” she frowned. There was something there. Something he didn’t want her to know about.

“Ms. Sanchez, I do believe this is enough一"

“What are you hiding, geek?” she threatened.

“Phantom uses his parents’ weapons!” Manson erupted. She, Fenton, and the technogeek shared a glance. All three of them seemed to be on edge, not just Fenton.

“Y一yeah,” Foley backed her up. “Danny puts them in his backpack, Phantom takes the weapons he needs for the day, and then gives the backpack back to Danny. Isn’t that  _ right _ , Danny?”

_ “I’m still trying to take attendance一" _

“Yeah! I do it so my pa _ rents _ ,” his voice cracked, “don’t find out.”

“Oh,” Paulina nodded. “That makes sense. You just don’t want your psycho parents on your case.”

“They’re not psy一"

“Yeah,” Manson answered for him again. “To appease his parents.”

Mr. Lancer grabbed her arm, “Ms. Sanchez, will you just  _ take your seat _ -!” he demanded.

She huffed, “ _ Fine _ .” She walked to her seat but turned to Danny one last time. “I always suspected that you two were connected somehow,” she whispered.

She didn’t see him flinch, nor did anyone else.

And after that incident, she noticed that Phantom didn’t fly by the Nasty Burger in the mornings anymore.


	6. Cosmic Sentence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt requested by bookeatingworm!

Air felt like molasses, dripping down his throat. Something this thick should suffocate him, but it wasn’t. He could still breathe. Why could he still breathe? Maybe that didn’t matter.

Breathing was a mundane action. There were more important questions.

For instance, what were these flames curled around his fingers? They gleamed with a dark iridescence, licking his hands. They felt different than his regular ectoplasmic flames. They felt like water; like he was running his hand through an animated stream.

These flames felt natural. They felt real.

And suddenly, everything felt real for the first time.

He could feel how everything was connected… the world was a network of balance. On one side of the Ghost Zone, a ghostling could blaze into existence一fresh from death. On the other side, an old, withering spirit could fade away一into nothing. In exchange for something from nothing, something must be brought back to nothing.

He noted bitterly that the air still felt like molasses.

“Daniel?” Vlad pressed. “How一how do you feel?”

“Everything…” he whispered. “I feel… _everything_.”

His crimson eyes dripped with worry. “You took that blast pretty hard. I don’t think you’re well. Your hands一”

“They’re okay.”

Danny clenched his blazing fists and looked back at Vlad. He saw him more than he ever had before. He could see where his ghost side intertwined with his human half. The two coexisted brilliantly, just like Danny once existed. But now he was more than that. He didn’t know what he was anymore.

It was exhilarating, to say the least. He was scared… and it felt good. He enjoyed his own fear. It felt _good _to feel.

“What did I do?” he wondered.

In response, reality rippled. A few feet away, Clockwork appeared. He was in his child form, but his brow was as wrinkled as an old man’s.

“Phantom,” he greeted.

This… felt stranger than their other meetings.

“Hello, Clockwork.”

Vlad choked. “Clockwork?”

Danny shot him a look and he fell silent.

“What did I do to myself? Why is everything… intense?”

Clockwork eyed him up and down. “It appears you’ve had an accident with an Artifact of Cosmic Selection. I’m… genuinely surprised.”

“Cosmic Selection?”

“Artifacts that grant Godship. They’re extremely rare… and daresay fatal. If the user isn’t worthy, the Artifact obliterates them. Yet… you survived.” Clockwork met his eyes with a startling resolve. “You’ve attained Godship.”

“What do you mean Godship?”

Was he saying what Danny thought he was saying? No, he couldn’t be. He couldn’t be a God. He didn’t _want _to be a God.

He didn’t want this.

“I think you know,” Clockwork said softly.

He shook his head. “Take it back. Make the artifact take it back.”

“I’m afraid that can’t happen, Daniel. You see, the Artifact only grants Godship to those who don’t want it,” he scowled. “I of all people should know.”

“No. No _no-no-no_一”

Clockwork reached forward. “Phantom一”

“No,” he shoved him back. “Not ‘Phantom’. _I’m_ Danny! And I’m fourteen! I didn’t want to be a ghost! I don’t want to be a God either!” the flames around his hand moved up his arms, engulfing him in their blaze. “I… I don’t _want _this….”

The feeling of everything ebbed against his soul and he pushed it back into himself. It didn’t feel good to feel anymore. This was all too much at once.

_“Please… make this stop.”_


	7. Escapism

Breaking in wasn't as hard as Wes had anticipated. He'd walked through the lobby, stolen a guard's badge, and guess-timated which floor housed the specimens. Which really, wasn't that hard to guess considering that they posted their entire directory online. Apparently the GIW were just cocky enough that they were absolutely vulnerable to human security threats. In the end, their hubris would be their downfall. It was almost pitiful that he'd once had ambitions to join this shitty organization.

Wes unclasped the chains shackling Fenton the floor. The boy hadn't said a word since Wes had arrived. Kinda ungrateful, but also a bit worrisome. Maybe Fenton was expecting an explanation? Eh, he could at least throw him that bone.

"Look," he rolled his eyes, "I may hate your guts but I can't really _hate_ them when they've been pickled in jars and shit."

Danny stared at him, rubbing the inhibitors on his wrists. "So uh, why did you come to break me out, then?"

Wes huffed indignantly. "I thought that was _obvious_. Geez, they really did a number on you, didn't they? you _owe_ me now, Fenton. You owe me your life."

"Uh, okay?"

"And now that you owe me… you have no problem if I tell anyone your secret?"

Danny shrugged. "I don't know, I guess?"

"Wait, really?"

"It's not like I expected to live this far. do what you want. ancients know I don't deserve this much."

Wes froze. "A—are you alright, Fenton?"

Danny's eyes dulled for a moment. "Yeah, totally fine."

He pulled at the inhibitors on his wrists again.

"_Totally… fine_."


	8. Confidant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on an AU that Wes knows that Phantom is a student at Casper High..... but doesn't know who (;

Wes threw his hood over his head and approached the bleachers. His confidant had assured him that their long quest for truth was coming to a close; Phantom was just beyond their reach. Wes would uncover the ghost’s human identity and make him confess. Then, everyone would see. _Everyone_ would know that Wes was right all along!

Well, Wes and Danny Fenton.

He approached the black-haired boy beneath the bleachers. He was wearing a pair of shades and a baseball cap—a smart precaution. If Phantom knew that they were onto him, all could be lost. It was better to be safe than sorry with their own identities.

“What’s the intel?” Wes asked.

Fenton’s lip trembled. “Wes… it’s bad. If I’m right, then—then everything will change. At least for me.”

“What’s wrong? We’re close, right?”

He nodded. “I know who it is. Well, I’m ninety percent sure. But uh, I’m not sure if they’d want me to tell you. They’re,” he choked, “really close to me.”

“If he’s close to you, that’s all the more reason to expose him! He’s lying to everyone, Fenton! He’s hurting people, hurting you, hurting me… the only way to end this is the truth.”

“But what if you found out that Phantom’s the _one_ person you thought you could trust? What if you don’t want the lies to—to stop?”

Wes narrowed his eyes. “Has he done something to you?”

“No! No, I’m fine. It’s just,” Fenton broke off and mumbled into his hand.

“What?”

“I think… I think Phantom’s my sister. Jazz.”

Wes’s mind ran for a loop. _Studious Jazz Fenton?_ Social recluse, future valedictorian, and daughter of ghost hunters. It didn’t add up. Okay, made it explained her social life, but everything else was a bit out of reach.

But Jazz was Fenton’s sister. He _lived_ with her. There had to be a good reason for him to suspect her. Even if she was a girl.

“How would that work?”

“Remember that trans theory I had a while back? That Phantom may be trans and his human identity hasn’t come out, yet?”

“Your sister—brother?—is trans?”

“I mean, I don’t know for _sure_. But that’s just the beginning! There’s so many other clues! Phantom sounds like Fenton, doesn’t it? And—and his jumpsuit is the same type as my parents’! We both have access to them! That, and isn’t suspicious that Phantom uses my family’s technology _all the time?”_

His eyes widened. “That’s right!”

“I don’t know how to confront her about it,” he continued. “Or if I _want_ to find the truth anymore.”

“We have to find the truth, Fenton.”

“But—but, Jazz—”

“She chose this. I know she’s your sister, but we swore that we’d finish this! And you want to finish this, right?”

Danny shook his head. “Jazz is too important. If you want to do anything, I’ll stay out of your way. But I’m her brother. I don’t turn on my family like that.”

Wes could understand that. “Alright.” He looked to the sun setting over the football field behind them. “I guess this is it, then.”

Danny’s lip curled into a smile. “I guess it is.”

* * *

“You told him _what_?”

“Just that you’re Phantom. I got all dramatic and stuff too. He totally ate it up, so expect him knocking on your window tonight.”

Jazz pinched the bridge of her nose. “_Why_? Just why, Danny?”

“You ate the last pop-tart. Plus, it’s ironic.”

Jazz’s eyes swirled with something indiscernible. “God help me if you don’t get out of my room in the next two seconds you are spending the next three hours in the Thermos.”

“You wouldn—”

Jazz reached for her desk drawer and Danny promptly vanished.


	9. Bridging the Gap

“So you’re the ghost king?”

Danny looked from his plate of lasagna. Mom didn’t seem particularly bothered, but he knew that she’d probably been digesting it for a while.

“Mm, yeah.”

“So what does that make me? Just, mother-of-the-King, or is there a special word for it?”

“I dunno. If there was a word, it’d probably be in ghost speak.”

She frowned. “I thought you knew ghost speak.”

“I know English too, but I don’t know every word.”

“Oh. That’s fair, I guess.”

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Danny broke the ice.

“Do you want to come to one of my royal balls sometime? They’re really boring, but Clockwork makes me throw them. He says it’s good for morale—letting the ghosts see their half-human King in a positive light.”

Just as he’d expected, her eyes lit up. He couldn’t tell if she was more fascinated about his royalty or the opportunity to experience candid ghost culture. “What do you do?”

“Eh, sit on my throne for a bit while everyone mingles. Dance a bit. Sometimes they serve ghost blobs—which isn’t bad or anything. They don’t have cores, so they’re not really sentient. They’re like the ghost version of shellfish.”

She seemed a bit taken aback by the ghost blob thing, but not completely deterred. “Yeah, that sounds fun.”

“Cool.” He took another bite of lasagna. “_Cool_.”


	10. In These Hours

“It’s been two hours.” Sam groaned into her pillow.

“I mean, he _was _fighting Skulker. Do you think we should go look for him? Make sure he hasn’t been flayed?”

“Tuck, it’s Danny.”

“Right.” He fiddled with the game controls. “Why do we have to wait on him, anyway? Can’t we just play until he gets here?”

“What? Us playing Doom? Alone? No, we always play with Danny.”

“So? He can join later—we don’t need him to be here for everything.”

She hefted herself into a sitting position. “I guess you’re right. We don’t need Danny’s permission.”

He grinned. “That’s more like it, sis.”

“Call me sis again and your PDA is going out the window.”

“Wha—”

“Kidding. You can call me any endearing term you can think of as long as you let me beat you. Then it’ll be like you’re kissing my ass.”

Tucker scoffed. “No way! Oh, it’s on. _Sister_.”


	11. Fall From Grace

Its parents were so naive that it almost hurt her. How could they call themselves ghost hunters when it was living under their roof? Despicable. No wonder Mr. Masters always skirted around Jack Fenton like he wanted to pound a hatchet into his shoulder. They were beyond fools. In their ignorance, they’d enabled it to roam the skies wielding their technology and they hadn’t even noticed! That’s how she’d pieced it together—the tech. And now that she knew that Danny Fenton and Phantom were one in the same, she’d finish it. She’d avenge her father, resolve her own fall from grace!

She cornered it outside the Nasty Burger—_her_ turf. This was her workplace, her haven from ghosts. If she was going to rid of it anywhere, it’d be here. It fit perfectly.

“Hey, Val. What’s up?” it asked, eyeing her hands. Shit, it’d noticed that she was holding something beneath her pocket.

“Ah, nothing, Danny. I was just wondering what brought you out here?”

It must have sensed the ghost she released minutes earlier. It’d fallen for the bait; hook, line, and sinker.

“I needed some fresh air. It’s kinda stuff in there, you know?” It grinned, but its smile didn’t reach its eyes.

“Yeah. I know.” She placed her finger over the trigger. It’d take her a few seconds to aim, so she had to time this _just _right.

“Well,” it turned to leave, “I think I’m good now. I’ll see you later, alright?”

She couldn’t let this chance evade her. She had to do something. Valerie pulled the gun from her pocket and aimed. It was poor shot but it caught him in the shoulder. Green spurt from the wound and his knees crumpled underneath him. His head hit the ground with a dizzy THUD and Valerie’s breath hitched in her throat.

She’d done it. It was down. All she had to do now was take another shot. And another. And _another_.

“V—Val,” it cried. Its eyes were vulnerable, green. She could almost imagine plucking them out of its head. “It’s _me_! I—it’s _Danny_.”

“Oh,” she smiled, “I know.”


	12. Superstition

Explaining to her roommates that she was the daughter of ghost hunters didn’t really appropriate, so Jazz accepted her oddities when she could and moved on. She’d prided herself for years that she was the normal one in her family—especially after Danny zapped himself half to death in their basement and stepped up as a teenage superhero. Although, being a Fenton wasn’t something you could just turn away from. Oh no, Jazz was not normal. She’d learned this the hard way.

“I’ve never seen you drink soup,” Emily noted.

“I prefer solid foods, I guess. Less messy.”

“Then why do you always carry a thermos? I see it in your purse sometimes and I was just uh, wondering.”

Jazz shrugged. “Superstition.”

Emily stared at her. “What.”

“Some old family thing. It’s hard to explain.”

It probably wouldn’t take too long that her Dad made ghost weapons that look like kitchenware, but today was not the day to open that can of worms.

There were other things too. Little things. Like how she would be wary opening the fridge door like something inside was about to climb out and attack her. Or how she always cut her food up to check for green flecks.

Old habits die hard, she supposed.


	13. September

Danny was used to finding strange things in his room. Sometimes his Dad liked to walk around the house while he invented things just to let different environments _inspire _him. Sometimes Mom moved things around while she cleaned. And sometimes when his parents knocked down the walls (which was thankfully covered in their insurance at this point) Jazz would return some of the things that he’d phased into them so his parents wouldn’t see.

Sometimes ghosts showed up in his room too. Skulker had ambushed him a few times and Vlad’s vultures had tried to kidnap him on a few occasions. Of course, there was the time he found Danielle in his bed, reading some of his space magazines. Now that’d been a wild week.

So when Danny phased into his room and found another Danny Fenton sleeping in his bed, it was a _surprise _but not anything that hadn’t happened before. Had Vlad sent this clone of him to try and persuade him to give him his mid-morph sample again? Jeez, what a crackpot. Didn’t they say something like ‘insanity is doing the same thing over and over’ or something? Because by that definition, Vlad was clearly off his rocker.

Danny grabbed a jacket off his desk chair and used it to swat the other Danny’s face. “Wake up.”

Clone-Danny sat upright in his bed, green eyes ablaze. “Wha—?”

“What are you doing in my room?”

Clone-Danny phased through the bedspread and stood opposite of Danny.

“What am _I_—what are _you _doing in my room? Aren’t you another one of Vlad’s clones?”

“What? No. _You’re_ the clone. I just got done with school. So that means it’s you.”

“Uh, dude. It’s July.”

What was this clone’s deal? Danny knew the date. It was April. It’d been April for two weeks now, right?

Clone-Danny slid Danny’s phone off from his nightstand and held it to Danny’s face.

It wasn’t July.

… or April.

When they met each other’s eyes, he could hear the faint voice of someone downstairs telling Mom that they were going out for the day with Sam and Tucker.

_Shit._


	14. Juggling

“You’re making this too difficult on yourself.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “No, I’m not.”

“Just use fruit or something. Or beanbags. Golf balls.”

“I can literally make balls of energy, Sam. Why would I need golf balls?”

“Because watching you try to do this is beyond ridiculous and I think that you’d make better progress if you weren’t trying to sustain plasma balls and juggle at the same time.”

He tossed a sphere of green energy into the air, followed by another, then promptly caught the first… and the second one hit the floor, fizzling into nothing and leaving a green smear on Sam’s carpet.

She glared at him. “You’re lucky that I can afford steam cleaning.”

“Okay, I guess you have a point.”


	15. Passage

Being a resident of Amity Park was a badge of honor that not many knew how to wear. After enduring so many years of ghost attacks, the community had adapted to the onslaught of oddities that frequented their town. Naturally, even the initial disbelievers stopped denying in the existence of the paranormal after a few months. Ghosts attacked and they lived their lives; that was that.

Except, the rest of the world didn’t believe them. Who would? A haunted town ravaged by spirits on the daily? What a cosmic joke. Amity Park’s just another one of those tourist traps… conspiracy fodder… their citizens live under delusions. Has anybody tested the water?

Amity residents knew what the world thought of them, how couldn’t they? Between philanthropist Vlad Masters, viral YouTuber Wes Weston, ex-pop diva Ember McClain, and the legend of Danny Phantom it was hard to keep their small town under wraps. They were infamous. Although, they hadn’t realized exactly how infamous until a group of high-schoolers came upon a startling article in the midst of their spring ACT.

It was in the English section, taken from some college journal about the effect of the Internet on solidifying sensational conspiracy theories. The author developed Amity Park as an example for a good three paragraphs.

_“There’s been nothing quite like Amity Park,” says sociologist, Nikhil Kahtri. “The first report was three years ago. Residents claimed that a king attacked the town and that the sky had turned green. Some even claim that the entire city had disappeared off the map. Across two-hundred interviews, not a single answer deviated from that response…” How exactly do so many people uniformly deceive themselves?_

The testing center was a riot. Some students chuckled to themselves and moved on with the tests. Others set their pencil down and left the room completely, unable to move on with their test knowing that _holy shit, every kid in the country just read that._

At one point, Wes threw a chair.

Danny might have been who he aimed it at.

Mr. Lancer just wanted to go home in peace.


End file.
